Coder requires Go 1.18+, Node 14+, and GNU Make.

Use the following `make` commands and scripts in development:

- `make release` dry runs a new release

- `./develop.sh` hot reloads for front-end development

Contributions must adhere to the guidelines outlined in [Effective

Go](https://go.dev/doc/effective_go). We prefer linting rules over documenting

styles (run ours with `make lint`); humans are error-prone!

Read [Go's Code Review Comments

Wiki](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/CodeReviewComments) for information on

Coder writes packages that are used during implementation. It isn't easy to

validate whether an abstraction is valid until it's checked against an

implementation. This results in a larger changeset, but it provides reviewers

with a holistic perspective regarding the contribution.

Coder values thorough reviews. For each review comment that you receive, please

"close" it by implementing the suggestion or providing an explanation on why the

suggestion isn't the best option. Be sure to do this for each comment; you can

click **Done** to indicate that you've implemented the suggestion, or you can

add a comment explaining why you aren't implementing the suggestion (or what you

chose to implement instead).

It is perfectly normal for changes to go through several rounds of reviews, with

one or more reviewers making new comments every time, then waiting for an

updated change before reviewing again. All contributors, including those from

maintainers, are subject to the same review cycle; this process is not meant to

be applied selectively or to discourage anyone from contributing.

[!["GitHub

Discussions"](https://img.shields.io/badge/%20GitHub-%20Discussions-gray.svg?longCache=true&logo=github&colorB=purple)](https://github.com/coder/coder/discussions)

[!["Join us on

Slack"](https://img.shields.io/badge/join-us%20on%20slack-gray.svg?longCache=true&logo=slack&colorB=brightgreen)](https://coder.com/community)

[![Twitter

Follow](https://img.shields.io/twitter/follow/CoderHQ?label=%40CoderHQ&style=social)](https://twitter.com/coderhq)

[](https://codecov.io/gh/coder/coder)

- Automate development environments for Linux, Windows, and macOS

- Get started quickly using one of the [examples](./examples) provided

Install [the latest release](https://github.com/coder/coder/releases) on a system with

at least 1 CPU core and 2 GB RAM.

To test, start with dev mode (all data is in-memory and is destroyed on exit):

coder server --dev

CODER_PG_CONNECTION_URL="postgres://<username>@<host>/<database>?password=<password>" \

To run as a system service, install with `.deb` (Debian, Ubuntu) or `.rpm`

(Fedora, CentOS, RHEL, SUSE):

sudo vim /etc/coder.d/coder.env

sudo service coder restart

Use `coder start --help` to get a complete list of flags and environment

variables.

In a new terminal, create a template (e.g., a template to **Develop in Linux on

Google Cloud**):

coder templates init

coder templates create

Create a workspace and connect to it via SSH:

coder workspaces create my-first-workspace

coder ssh my-first-workspace

You can edit the Terraform template using a sample template:

coder templates init

cd gcp-linux/

vim main.tf

coder templates update gcp-linux

- [About Coder](./about.md#about-coder)

- [Why remote development](about.md#why-remote-development)

- [Why Coder](about.md#why-coder)

- [What Coder is not](about.md#what-coder-is-not)

- [Templates](./templates.md)

- [Manage templates](./templates.md#manage-templates)

- [Persistent and ephemeral

resources](./templates.md#persistent-and-ephemeral-resources)

- [Variables](./templates.md#variables)

- [Workspaces](./workspaces.md)

- [Create workspaces](./workspaces.md#create-workspaces)

- [Connect with SSH](./workspaces.md#connect-with-ssh)

- [Editors and IDEs](./workspaces.md#editors-and-ides)

- [Workspace lifecycle](./workspaces.md#workspace-lifecycle)

- [Updating workspaces](./workspaces.md#updating-workspaces)

Keeping your code secure is central to what we do. If you find a vulnerability,

please send an email to security@coder.com.

Coder is an open source platform for creating and managing developer workspaces

on your preferred clouds and servers.

By building on top of common development interfaces (SSH) and infrastructure tools (Terraform), Coder aims to make the process of **provisioning** and **accessing** remote workspaces approachable for organizations of various sizes and stages of cloud-native maturity.

Migrating from local developer machines to workspaces hosted by cloud services

is an increasingly common solution for developers[^1] and organizations[^2]

alike. There are several benefits, including:

- **Increased speed:** Server-grade compute speeds up operations in software

development, such as IDE loading, code compilation and building, and the

running of large workloads (such as those for monolith or microservice

applications)

- **Easier environment management:** Tools such as Terraform, nix, Docker,

devcontainers, and so on make developer onboarding and the troubleshooting of

development environments easier

- **Increase security:** Centralize source code and other data onto private

servers or cloud services instead of local developer machines

- **Improved compatibility:** Remote workspaces share infrastructure

configuration with other development, staging, and production environments,

reducing configuration drift

- **Improved accessibility:** Devices such as lightweight notebooks,

Chromebooks, and iPads can connect to remote workspaces via browser-based IDEs

or remote IDE extensions

The key difference between Coder v2 and other remote IDE platforms is the added

layer of infrastructure control. This additional layer allows admins to:

- Support ARM, Windows, Linux, and macOS workspaces

- Modify pod/container specs (e.g., adding disks, managing network policies,

setting/updating environment variables)

- Use VM/dedicated workspaces, developing with Kernel features (no container

knowledge required)

- Enable persistent workspaces, which are like local machines, but faster and

hosted by a cloud service

Coder includes [production-ready templates](../examples) for use with AWS EC2,

Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, and more.

- Coder is not an infrastructure as code (IaC) platform. Terraform is the first

IaC *provisioner* in Coder, allowing Coder admins to define Terraform

resources as Coder workspaces.

- Coder is not a DevOps/CI platform. Coder workspaces can follow best practices

for cloud service-based workloads, but Coder is not responsible for how you

define or deploy the software you write.

- Coder is not an online IDE. Instead, Coder supports common editors, such as VS

Code, vim, and JetBrains, over HTTPS or SSH.

- Coder is not a collaboration platform. You can use git and dedicated IDE

extensions for pull requests, code reviews, and pair programming.

- Coder is not a SaaS/fully-managed offering. You must host

Coder on a cloud service (AWS, Azure, GCP) or your private data center.

Next: [Templates](./templates.md)

[^1]: alexellis.io: [The Internet is my computer](https://blog.alexellis.io/the-internet-is-my-computer/)

[^2]: slack.engineering: [Development environments at Slack](https://slack.engineering/development-environments-at-slack)

Templates define the infrastructure underlying workspaces. Each Coder deployment

can have multiple templates for different workloads, such as ones for front-end

development, Windows development, and so on.

Coder manage templates, including sharing them and rolling out updates

to everybody. Users can also manually update their workspaces.

Coder provides production-ready [sample template](../examples/), but you can

modify the templates with Terraform.

coder templates init

vim <template-name>/main.tf

coder templates <create/update> <template-name>

Coder supports both ephemeral and persistent resources in workspaces. Ephemeral

resources are destroyed when a workspace is not in use (e.g., when it is

stopped). Persistent resources remain. See how this works for a sample front-end

template:

| Resource | Type |

| :--------------------------- | :--------- |

| google_compute_disk.home_dir | persistent |

| kubernetes_pod.dev | ephemeral |

| └─ nodejs (linux, amd64) | |

| api_token.backend | ephemeral |

When a workspace is deleted, all resources are destroyed.

Templates often contain *parameters*. In Coder, there are two types of parameters:

- **Admin parameters** are set when a template is created/updated. These values

are often cloud secrets, such as a `ServiceAccount` token, and are annotated

with `sensitive = true` in the template code.

**User parameters** are set when a user creates a workspace. They are unique to

each workspace, often personalization settings such as "preferred

region" or "workspace image".

Next: [Workspaces](./workspaces.md)